


Echoes of Trust

by aislingdoheanta



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Abuse, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Trust Issues, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-22 10:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10695252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aislingdoheanta/pseuds/aislingdoheanta
Summary: After the attempt on Laurent's life, Damen doesn't run. For better or worse, he's throwing his lot in with Laurent.Canon Divergent AU of Captive Prince trilogy starting right after the attempt on Laurent's life inCaptive Prince.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know that I really should be focusing on either of my two reverse bang fics or two big bang fics, but I needed a break and this idea just wouldn't leave my brain. It's so interesting to me how one small change--Damen choosing to stay instead of trying to escape--would change so much. Not only the dynamic between them, but the story as well. I will be adding warnings, tags, characters, and rating changes as the story progresses. Just know that it's set in the canon era so the usual disclaimers of the stories apply, including Laurent's backstory. 
> 
> This is just my self-indulgent plot and character study of the aftermath of this "small" change. I am sorry, but I have no set update schedule for this thing. It's going to be what I work on in between other projects and before I start grad school. I will have more time coming up to work on my projects, but right now it's hard working full-time and school full-time. But I do love this idea and promise to finish it! My goal is an update at least every other week, but again, right now I have no real plan. This is a story I am literally feeling out as I go, which I usually hate. But it might be kind of fun to go on this journey together. (I figured I'd put this huge, rambling disclaimer at the top for anyone who's hesitant to read a WIP)

“Go, then.”

Damen turned, intent on opening the door. Laurent would be fine. He had his guards to protect him. He had pets to call for relief from the drug—if he even wanted someone. Damen couldn’t do anything more for him. He shouldn’t _want_ to do anything more for him.

Laurent didn’t need—or want—Damen.

Damen didn’t even want to help him, his captor, the man who flayed the skin from his back. Damen owed him nothing. Besides he needed to get home, back to Akielos, and his kingdom. His people were suffering and unstable which meant Vere could swoop in at any second to decimate them. They needed him and he needed to get back to them.

He owed neither Vere nor Laurent his loyalty.

_He is all alone and vulnerable just as you were when Kastor sent you here._

The thought brought Damen up short. He knew when he had picked up the sword against the men, that he was helping Laurent in an echo of his own past, but that shouldn’t matter now.

Except it did.

It would be just as dishonorable to Damen to leave a drugged man alone and vulnerable after an attempt on his life than if he had picked up the sword against Laurent himself. Even Laurent didn’t deserve such a fate, though Damen wasn’t surprised he had caused such an attempt.

_But how did they get so far into the palace unnoticed?_

Damen let the door close and dropped his hand from it. He turned to face Laurent who was staring at him with his usual closed-off expression.

“Seeing reason at last?” The only indication of the drug was the slightly breathy quality of Laurent’s voice.

“I cannot leave an unarmed man alone in such a state,” Damen said.

“I am not unarmed.”

Damen followed Laurent’s gaze to the weapon on the floor. “Drugged then.”

Laurent studied him. “Why not? You were ready to run a few moments ago, even if it would have been completely foolish.”

“You asked me to trust you,” Damen said.

“And now you do?” Laurent asked.

“No. But my chance of survival is improved if I’m in your good graces,” Damen said. “And I intend to survive.”

“You expect me to free you,” Laurent said. “We’re both aware that I am in your debt and you wish to use that against me. Use that guilt against me until I free you.”

Damen snorted. “You won’t free me. I know your hatred of Akielos and me.”

“Then why stay?”

“Because it’s the honorable thing to do,” Damen replied.

“The barbarian soldier thinks he’s honorable,” Laurent taunted.

“I am more honorable than you,” Damen shot back, hating that he was rising to the bait. “I attack head on in a fair fight. I don’t plot and scheme and manipulate to force other people to do my bidding.”

“No. You just cut them down and gut them without a second thought, all in the name of your own glory,” Laurent said. “Just as Damianos did with my brother.”

The words hit so close to home that for a brief second he wasn’t sure if Laurent knew his secret or not. The second passed and he held back a sigh. He refused to play this game with Laurent.

Damen swallowed. “It could have just as easily been me, or another, or Damianos himself that fell that day. Taking a life is no easy thing.”

He glanced back down to spot where the man had been when Laurent sliced his throat open. “Though you seemed to handle it with far more poise than I would have expected. And we’re not even on a battlefield.”

Laurent closed his eyes and for a brief second Damen could swear there were thoughts that Laurent was about to voice to him. But then it was over and those cool, blue eyes just continued to stare at him.

“We’re always on a battlefield,” Laurent said. “Or were you abducted in the middle of a battle?”

“What happened to me is not what happened here,” Damen said. “This was…planned.”

Laurent studied him but said nothing.

“How were they able to get so close to you without raising the alarm? Why was there no one else around? How were they able to get me? _Why_ did they get me?” Damen glanced around the room as though answers would spring from the wall.

“Perhaps you are not as dumb as you look, brute.”

The doors burst open and men filed in. Damen didn’t think; he reacted on instinct. He lunged for the sword and swung himself around, facing the door and keeping his body between Laurent and the door. The sword held up in both his hands, prepared for another round of battle. Guards in red marched in, the Regent shuffling in leisurely behind them.

The Regent lifted his eyebrows taking in the two of them. “When the guards told me that your slave was responsible for saving your life, I didn’t believe them. Apparently you have brought him to heel.”

Laurent took a few steps forward so he was in front of Damen. Damen lowered the sword and tried to remain inconspicuous but there was something almost predatorily in the Regent’s eyes as he stared at Damen.

“I was inspired by your faith in me, Uncle,” Laurent said. He didn’t lower his head and kept his gaze locked on the Regent.

“Or has he simply turned your head?” the Regent asked, his gaze once more moving slowly over Damen’s form. “He is…quite the specimen, if he fits your tastes.”

“We both know he doesn’t fit yours,” Laurent shot back, quiet and deadly.

The Regent didn’t even falter. His smile remained small and private. “But he appears to suit even your picky and contradictory tastes.”

“Please. As if I would let an Akielon touch me.”

Damen swallowed and felt like the entire room heard him.

“So he wasn’t bedding you?” The Regent asked. “Then why was he here in the middle of the night?”

“It’s not so late in the evening,” Laurent said. “And his room is within my own, or don’t you remember that, Uncle?”

“A penance for your arrogance that you have not quite served, I fear,” The Regent’s face turned sad. “Yet that doesn’t answer my question.”

“What I do with my slaves is of no concern to you,” Laurent said. Damen had to admire his quick-wit. It was like watching a verbal chess match when only one person knew they were playing.

“It concerns me when the good will of the King of Akielos might be threatened,” the Regent said calmly. The Regent dropped his gaze to Damen and there was that look again. The same one Laurent had at times where Damen felt certain that his identity was known, but that was impossible. They would have killed him by now if they knew.

“He is unharmed,” Laurent said.

“As are you,” the Regent said. “Luckily he is so good with a sword.”

There was a strange moment of eerie silence that neither party wanted to break.

“I suppose I shall let this matter drop for now,” the Regent said at length. “But know that I am not satisfied.”

“Duly noted,” Laurent said. “I am also upset that my slave brought his petty quarrel into my chambers.”

“You should have your guards.” The Regent tipped his head up, almost as though he was attempting to look even further down his nose at Laurent.

“And your guards should have been paying closer attention as to who was coming into the palace,” Laurent said quietly.

The eerie, charged silence returned and Damen felt like the two of them were having a conversation that was going over his head. Perhaps the Regent was aware that Laurent was playing games with him and was trying to match him.

After a long, tense, awkward silence, the Regent finally turned and gestured to his men to file out into the hall with him. The click of the door shutting felt permanent, as though the sound shook the very foundation the two men inside the room had started to build.

Damen turned to Laurent who was watching him carefully. “Why didn’t you tell your Uncle the truth? This was an attack on your life!”

“I am aware.” Laurent walked back to his position against the wall and Damen had a brief second of concern as to whether the drug had worked its way out of Laurent’s system before his frustration came back.

“Are you?” Damen said, taking three steps towards him. “You seem completely unaffected by this.”

“I am not—” Laurent’s gaze dropped briefly to the cup that was still lying on the floor—“unaffected.”

“Laurent,” Damen said quietly. “This is your life. I know you feel you need to prove yourself to your Uncle, but this is ridiculous. You could have died.”

“Then my Uncle would have been overjoyed,” Laurent said.

“How can you say that?” Damen asked, taken aback by Laurent’s blunt tone. “He’s your family.”

 “Tell me, does your family know you’re here?” Laurent asked. Damen couldn’t let his thoughts drift to Kastor and what he did to Damen. It was not the same.

“Laurent—”

“I did not give you permission to address me so informally.”

“ _Your highness_ ,” Damen said irritably. “Your Uncle would have been deeply hurt by your death.”

Laurent stared at him, his jaw clenching slightly. Damen was mesmerized by it. It was the most emotion Damen had seen on him since he’d watched Damen flogged. “Are all Akielons as foolishly stupid as you? I honestly worry for the future of your barbaric country if the bastard king leading them is this dumb as well.”

Damen took a step back, knowing the barb was well-placed for a reason. “Either tell me what you want me to know or send me away. I will not stand here and be insulted by the very man I just risked my own life to save.”

“Please,” Laurent scoffed. “As if you were ever in any danger of not surviving that fight.”

Damen just stood there, his arms crossed as he waited for Laurent to say something.

“You expect me to tell you the inner workings of my court? So when you leave you can run home to Kastor and spill everything to win back his favor?” Laurent accused.

“I don’t need to win favor from Kastor,” Damen said quietly. _He will have to earn it back from me._

“If you really can’t see, it’s no wonder Kastor was able to send you here,” Laurent said. “And for a brief second I thought you were smarter than you seem.”

Damen wasn’t about to let this spoiled prince get the last word over him. He replayed their conversation until what Laurent hadn’t said became clear. “You think your Uncle knew about the attack?”

“I think he planned it.”

Damen shook his head. “But he’s your family.”

“Family doesn’t mean anything to anyone. Only power.” Laurent levelled him with a look. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

The truth was so close that Damen could taste it on the tip of his tongue. _My brother betrayed me for power._ The only thing he could say was, “Not always.”

Laurent rolled his eyes. “Of course. My honorable barbarian continues to see the good in everyone. Perhaps you’ll even give your murderer a second chance to stab you again if he misses the first time.”

“It’s not a weakness to see people as good,” Damen argued.

“It is when they use that against you,” Laurent shot back. “Either to kill you or send you off into slavery.”

“So you think your Uncle hired these men?” Damen asked trying to stay focused on one conversation at a time. At Laurent’s nod he continued. “Then why kill the last one? He could have testified.”

“My Uncle is not as stupid as your bastard king. He would never leave such an obvious trail,” Laurent said.

“Then we could have followed it!”

Laurent raised his brows at that. “ _We?_ ”

“You,” Damen said. “Your advisors. Whoever deals justice in this country.”

“That would be my Uncle,” Laurent said. “So you can see how unlikely it would be that the trail would lead anywhere close to him.”

Damen frowned.

“Besides, he wouldn’t have had to look far because the perfect scapegoat was right there, waiting to be served up as a lamb to the slaughter,” Laurent said watching him closely.

“ _Me?_ ” Damen asked. “But I wasn’t a part of it.”

“Yes, but who would have listened to the words of a rebellious slave?” Laurent said. “If you had run, there would have been very little I could have done for you.”

“You really were trying to protect me,” Damen said quietly, looking at Laurent in a newer light. Maybe Erasmus had been more correct in his assessment of Laurent than Damen had given him credit for. He had been trained as a slave. He’d been trained to read people and assess them and their wants very quickly.

“Don’t get sentimental,” Laurent chided. “It was nothing but a repayment of a debt.”

“So you said,” Damen replied. “They honestly thought I would pick up a sword against an unarmed man? Your Uncle thought I’d kill you in cold blood, four-on-one?”

“You have been given just cause,” Laurent said.

“There’s no just cause for that.” Damen dropped the sword—he’d completely forgotten he’d even been holding onto it. He rubbed at his forehead, his thoughts whirling around his in his mind. “How do you survive this place?”

“By being vigilant. Always.”

“That sounds exhausting,” Damen said. “In my country you fight with strength and sword. You go to the person and announce your quarrel. None of this backstabbing and deceit.”

“Such a primitive culture you demonstrate,” Laurent said.

“ _Honest_ ,” Damen corrected him. “We have an honest culture.”

Laurent studied him and Damen felt like there was a test he was unaware of and worried he wasn’t going to pass. Whatever the test, Damen could only imagine the punishment for failing would be much worse.

“Perhaps I have been gifted the only honorable barbarian,” Laurent said softly. Damen wasn’t sure if he was meant to have heard that or not. But it felt like he had passed whatever test Laurent had been performing on him.

“Leave me,” Laurent said, the tone of the room changing quickly.

“Will you be all right?” Damen asked, feeling like he didn’t want to leave this man vulnerable to a second attempt. _Would the Regent try a second attempt?_

“I’m fine.”

“All right,” Damen said. “Sleep well.”

Damen had his hand on the door when Laurent’s voice made his hesitate.

“Thank you. For saving my life.”

“It’s what anyone would do,” Damen said in reply.

Laurent didn’t respond but Damen heard him mumble something that sounded vaguely like Auguste as he closed the door behind him.

Damen walked to his own rooms, feeling strange that he was walking there on his own, without his escort. He sat on his bed, starting up at the stone ceiling for a long while, trying to sort through the complicated mess of feelings in his mind. He knew that he had made the right decision in protecting Laurent, but he wondered at what the next step for them would be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has become a fun little thing I work on in between my other projects. I know it might seem strange to see Laurent this way, but it's what's going on in his mind and he's really struggling with everything. I have the idea to do a few interlude chapters from Laurent's point of view just to make sure to get his side. Hopefully it doesn't seem completely out of character if you've read the first chapter.

For the first time since his imprisonment, Damen didn’t care about the passing of time. He didn’t watch the window and barely noticed the people brining food in for him. His mind was elsewhere.

He thought of Kastor and Jokaste and what they had done to him, how he didn’t see it. Laurent would have seen that coming a mile away. He would have seen it happening when it was still just a seed of thought in the mind. Laurent would have crushed it before it had a chance to even sprout, let alone grow into a plant that could kill him.

Damen still didn’t— _couldn’t_ quite believe it had happened. That his brother had willingly betrayed him. That Damen was the one currently sitting in a cell, with golden cuffs on his wrists and neck, a slave to the Veretian Prince who hated him.

Damen just didn’t have the knack for betrayal and deceit like Laurent did. Yet Damen no longer thought of Laurent as a cruel, bored prince who wanted to create entertainment for himself as Damen had only a few days ago. Now he was a young man fighting for his very life in a court that was full of deceit and trickery at every corner.

Where Damen once saw an arrogant snake, he now saw one that was caged and doing everything they could to escape, to be free.

 _Family doesn’t mean anything. Only power._ Laurent’s words echoed in his head and Damen felt sick. How long had Laurent been fighting alone?

The doors opened and Damen lazily watched men in red walk in and he was transported back to the trial of Laurent when he had him flogged. He remembered thinking Laurent was being contradictory wearing his dark blue in the middle of all that red, but he was just trying to gain any support that he could. These people should be flocking to their Prince, yet here they stood guarding the Regent.

Damen stood, bowing low to the man who had just tried to have his own nephew murdered. He had to ignore that; he had to be more like Laurent and not let any of his feelings show.

“Rise,” the Regent said. “We’re both men here.”

Damen stood and couldn’t help but notice that he was taller than the Regent.

The Regent watched him with a carefully guarded expression and Damen stood under his gaze.

“I see that your adventure with my nephew the other night hasn’t had any lasting damage,” he said to Damen.

“I am fine,” Damen said quietly. “Thankfully the Prince is as well.”

“Yes,” the Regent said. “That is something to be thankful for.”

The Regent walked over to the window and looked out through the bars. “Not much of a view, is it?”

“More than what I had before I was moved to his rooms,” Damen said.

“I take it things have been going well between you two, since you were in his rooms the other night,” the Regent said.

“I was not there for sex, your Highness,” Damen said. He’d have to tread carefully here to make sure he wasn’t causing more trouble for Laurent to clean up. _If you had run, there would have been very little I could have done for you._

“So my nephew has said.” He turned his gaze back to Damen.

How had Damen ever thought he might have been on his side? The Regent had something dark in his eyes. It wasn’t outright, but more like he wasn’t fully present in this moment but he was thinking of how to turn the situation in his favor.

“Would you like to tell me your side of the events from the other night?” the Regent asked.

“I thought the Prince had told you everything,” Damen said, again trying to use his words carefully.

“He did,” the Regent agreed. “Yet I thought perhaps he had gotten some information wrong.”

Damen said nothing.

“You will not be punished for your honestly,” the Regent said. “I will make sure of it.”

That would have been the moment Damen might have considered turning against Laurent if he hadn’t known the Regent’s hand in the plot to kill Laurent. The Regent knew just how to play him, to play everyone, to get them to do what he wanted.

“Forgive me, your Highness,” Damen said. “But I’m not sure I understand what you want me to say.”

“Why were you in his rooms?” the Regent asked.

The door opened and Herode, the elderly councilor that Damen remembered from before, walked in.

“Your Highness,” Herode said. “I was told to find you in here. We are gathering for the meeting.”

“Ah,” the Regent said. He kept his cool gaze on Damen and Damen just looked down, trying to think back to how slaves in Akielos would have done.

“If you think of anything more you wish to tell me,” the Regent said on the doorway. “Send word and I will hear of it.”

Damen nodded and bowed again as the men left his rooms. He felt exhausted, like he had just gone three rounds in the training ring.

It was barely ten breaths before his doors were opening again and Damen watched Nicaise enter his rooms.

The boy stood at the door and it seemed like he couldn’t decide if he actually wanted to come in or not. Damen had a flash to the first night he’d seen Damen and the look of fear on his face. No matter what he had said, Nicaise had been scared of him.

Damen had thought the boy had been afraid that Damen was going to hurt him. After finding out he was the Regent’s pet, Damen knew the boy had been afraid of Damen’s size for another reason. It made Damen sick that this court wasn’t bothered by a grown man bedding a boy.

“I won’t hurt you,” Damen said softly, not getting up from the bed. He wasn’t sure if the boy had seen that Damen wasn’t chained and he didn’t really want Nicaise to see that. He was here for something and his gut was telling him it was a visit the Regent didn’t know about.

“I’m not scared of you!” Nicaise’s face flushed and Damen’s heart broke a little for him. He was just like other boys, desperate to be considered a man yet knew that he couldn’t if he wanted to stay in the Regent’s good graces.

_The Regent’s bed._

“All right,” Damen agreed. “Growing up in this court there’s probably not a lot that frightens you.”

“I don’t care what an _Akielon_ thinks.”

Damen just shrugged.

Nicaise stood there for a few minutes and Damen just let him. He figured Nicaise would talk to him when he was ready.

“Did you really save Laurent’s life?” The voice was quiet, so unlike the voice he normally used.

“Yes,” Damen said.

“Why?”

“Because it was my quarrel,” Damen said. “He should have never been involved at all.”

“Would you have still saved him if it hadn’t been your fault?”

Damen frowned at him. “You mean would I have let him die if it the men hadn’t been there for him?”

“Yes,” Nicaise said.

“No,” Damen said. “I wouldn’t have let him die.”

Nicaise was quiet for a while, just watching Damen steadily with his bright blue eyes. Damen was suddenly overwhelmed with an image of Laurent at that age, but it was only the eyes that he could picture. Laurent’s person as a child was nearly impossible to picture.

“But you hate him,” Nicaise said quietly.

“That doesn’t mean I would let someone kill him,” Damen said.

Nicaise must have gotten what he had wanted because he turned to leave. “Don’t tell him I was here.”

Damen wasn’t sure which person he was referring to, but Damen wasn’t going to tell anyone. He simply nodded.

Right at the door Nicaise paused and said, “Don’t let anything happen to him.”

Before Damen could respond, Nicaise slipped out of the room pulling the door shut behind him. He wondered why Nicaise had said what he said, but it didn’t matter. He was clearly concerned about Laurent. Perhaps he really was hoping that Laurent would keep his promise to purchase a contract for him.

Damen’s thoughts followed the trail of what was next for Nicaise, if there was anything left for him, for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Damen didn’t hear from Laurent until the next evening. Jord came to get Damen and escorted him to Laurent’s rooms.

“Leave us,” Laurent ordered and Jord bowed his head, shutting the doors behind him.

Laurent looked cold and untouchable as always, but there was a slight tumultuous air about him. Damen wondered if he was simply getting better at reading Laurent or if their tentative truce caused Laurent to open up to him more.

Either way, the look didn’t bode well for the future.

“I hear my Uncle came to visit you,” Laurent said from his place of leaning against his desk. There was a goblet on the table and Damen knew it was filled with water.

“He did,” Damen said. “He was trying to get me to turn on you. I didn’t.”

“If I thought you had,” Laurent said quietly, “You would have rotted in that cell until my Uncle decided to free you.”

Damen nodded.

“I suppose I should thank you for keeping your words at a minimum,” Laurent said.

“I knew if I could say as little as possible, you’d be able to weave your story,” Damen replied.

“Yes,” Laurent said. “I had called you into my rooms to inspect your back—I have taken my Uncle’s warnings and high regard for the King of Akielos to heart. While you were there, the three men you had a quarrel with arrived, stealthily in the middle of the night, to kill you because your cock ended up in the wrong woman.

“If only Akielons could keep their cock to themselves, this wouldn’t have happened.” Laurent watched him with his cool gaze, his posture not even shifting slightly.

Damen knew Laurent was trying to get a rise out of him, but he didn’t know why. What purpose would that solve? “I see.”

“No you don’t,” Laurent said pushing off the desk, turning slightly away from Damen. “You don’t see anything until it’s right in front of you and you’re forced to look at it. It’s why Kastor was able to capture you so easily.”

Laurent turned back to him. “Tell me, did you voluntarily bind yourself for him? Did you believe him when he said it was going to be fun and exciting?”

“We weren’t lovers,” Damen said firmly.

Laurent stared at him, breathing carefully controlled. It was too controlled, too calculated to be anything other than Laurent’s attempt to hide whatever he could from Damen.

“What’s happened?” Damen asked.

There was the smallest flash of surprise in the widening of Laurent’s eyes before it was shuttered out. “I am to ride to the border. Apparently there have been reports of raids and it’s high time I take my job as Prince seriously.”

Damen frowned. “How did that come up?”

“Oh, my contradictory nature,” Laurent said. “Something you should know all about.”

Damen thought to the night with Ancel and Laurent’s abrupt departure. He thought back to the look he gave him when he announced he wasn’t fucking a boy. To Erasmus and his adoration for the gentle and kind Prince. To the night he was flogged. To the night Laurent had offered to save him.

Was that all this was, all he was? Still a spoiled Prince who’s moods changed on a whim?

Laurent took a long drink from the goblet, his eyes never leaving Damen’s.

“Apparently I have now grown too close to you. Never mind the fact that I would never bed an Akielon,” Laurent said. “My Uncle posed the question of where my loyalties truly lie if not in bed with Akielos.”

Laurent laughed bitterly and for the first time Damen wondered if it was water at all in the goblet or something else altogether.

“I whip you for your assault, I am far too harsh. I try to right my wrong by checking on your scars and I’m in league with Akielos.” Laurent laughed again. “Of course no one wants to point out that my Uncle was the one who signed a peace treaty with the grand King Kastor. He’s the one who sent Guion to the Ios with the signed peace treaty before anything had even happened, yet it’s my loyalties that are questioned.”

“You have allowed this to happen to you,” Damen said quietly. “You have fought against everyone and that hostile attitude has led you here.”

Laurent’s eyes hardened in an instant. _“Allowed._ I allowed this to happen? I was thirteen when my father—the King—and brother were killed. Far too young for any sort of authority. Not to mention I am a second son. I had no military training, no training for court, nothing. My Uncle stepped in on _entreaty_ of the council to rule in my stead until my ascension, my twenty-first year. My Uncle surrounded me only with men who were loyal to him or no one at all.

“I was alone, fighting for my life in this court since I was 16,” Laurent said, shaking slightly. “Don’t you _dare_ presume to tell me what I _allowed_ or _caused_. I have done what I was able to survive.”

Damen stood there, letting Laurent breathe for a minute to calm down. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I…I don’t know what it was like for you.”

That caused another change in Laurent, one of disbelief. It had to be wine in that goblet for Laurent to show so much of himself.

“You are the contradictory one,” Laurent said finally. “You antagonize and then seek to soothe. Which is it?”

“I am merely trying to understand why border patrol is such a horrible prospect for you,” Damen said.

“Accidents can happen on the border very easily.”

Damen’s heart stopped. Of course. He’d been so concerned with whether or not Laurent had been drinking that he hadn’t been paying attention. How many men had Akielos lost when they marched on Delpha?

How much easier would it be to dispatch one small Prince in the middle of hostile territory?

“This is another one of your Uncle’s attacks?” Damen whispered.

“Yes.”

“Then you can’t go,” Damen said.

“What choice do I have? He has poisoned my name so much no one but my own men stand by me,” Laurent said. “If I refuse the council will not hesitate to disavow me from the throne.”

“But that is your birthright,” Damen argued.

“It was Auguste’s birthright,” Laurent said softly. “It was never meant to be mine.”

“So you would let your Uncle take it by force?”

Laurent studied him. “What would you have me do?”

“Talk your way out of it! You can twist anything to suit your needs,” Damen said.

“It’s much more difficult to play the game against the one who taught you,” Laurent said.

“Then play a new game,” Damen argued.

“That is not possible,” Laurent said. “The game has already been set.”

“But not the pieces,” Damen said, thoughts whirling in his brain. “Take me with you. Let me help you.”

“You?” Laurent huffed out a breath and Damen wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a laugh or not. “What could I possible need you for? You are a slave, a barbarian. You have no place in the confidences of a Veretian Prince.”

“I know war,” Damen said firmly. “I know strategy.”

Laurent studied him. “I have men for that.”

“Men that your Uncle knows,” Damen said. “If you wish to beat him, you need a new tactic, a different piece to play.”

“And you believe that person is you.”

“Yes,” Damen said. “You said yourself that you cannot predict me. Then you Uncle will not be able to either. Besides, who would think that you would allow an Akielon slave into your council?”

“Why would you wish to help me? You hate Vere,” Laurent said.

_Because I too have been betrayed by my family. My birthright was also claimed by another._

“I do not wish to see my country fall into ruin over a war for a throne,” Damen said. _They are already fragile enough_.

Laurent studied him. “What makes you think I need your help?”

“Because if you could have beaten your Uncle already, you would have.” Laurent didn’t say anything and Damen pressed his luck. “He knows you too well. He’ll use that knowledge against you. You need to find a way to surprise him, to force him to rethink and restructure his attack.”

Laurent crossed his arms. “I don’t believe this is anything other than a rudimentary way to get out of the castle without chains.”

“If I had wanted to run, I would have done it that night,” Damen said. “I stayed because it wasn’t right what he did, what he tried to do to you. Just as this isn’t right. I cannot stand by and watch a man willingly go to his death and do nothing to try and stop it.”

“Even if that person is a Veretian?” Laurent asked.

“Even then,” Damen replied.

Laurent was silently studying him and Damen let the silence stretch on.

“You would be required to still be my slave,” Laurent said at length. “You would attend me in any way that I demand. You would do drills and practice with the other men. You would not have the privilege of getting out of hard work just because you are my slave.”

Damen snorted, unable to stop himself. “Does it look like I shy away from hard work?”

Laurent averted his eyes and turned around to shuffle the papers on his desk. “I can only hope we’ll have a horse that will suit your giant frame. If not perhaps you can be used as a type of pack mule.”

“I am here to serve the Prince of Vere,” Damen said and he was surprised to find he meant it.

Laurent spun around. “Why do you say these things?”

“When I decided to stay, I threw my lot in with yours. That’s a pledge from me that I will not leave your side until this is done.” Damen said softly after a while. “Whatever you think of me, or my people, know that I don’t go back on my word.”

Laurent stared at him and there was another shift in the foundation. “Perhaps my Uncle was right to question my sound judgment if I am considering believing the words of an Akielon brute.”

Damen let the comment pass as Laurent continued studying him. He wished he knew what Laurent was looking for, but the man would never let Damen in on his thoughts.

Apparently he liked what he saw because Laurent said softly, “I will allow you to address concerns with me in private. I will not be questioned in front of my men, no matter the reason.”

Damen nodded. “That is more than acceptable.”

“Then go and rest,” Laurent said. “We leave in two days. I will have things prepared for you.”

“All right.” Damen hesitated on the threshold of the door, not opening it quite yet. “If there is anything you need, you know where to find me.”

Laurent looked up at him and nodded once before going back to his papers. With that the only acknowledgement he was given, Damen opened the door and followed Jord back to his cell. He had to get some rest because he knew from experience that it was going to be a long few weeks out on patrol.

 


	3. Interlude: Laurent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little stumped on the next chapter and I figured it might help to get in Laurent's head for a brief scene. This is that result and I figured it might help explain where both characters are at right now. If it doesn't work, please tell me and I will delete it/replace it with another chapter! 
> 
> Thanks so much for everyone who's reading this WIP! It means a lot to me!

Laurent knew what he was doing. He always knew. He was always three steps ahead of everyone. He had to be in order to stay ahead of his Uncle’s schemes.

This time though, he wasn’t entirely sure where those steps were going to take him.

Damianos had been right, loathed as Laurent was to give that brute any credit, but it was a move that his Uncle would never predict. Especially since his Uncle knew who Damen really was.

His Uncle would never think that Laurent had willingly signed up his brother-prince-killing Akielon slave into his own army, into his confidences, but here he was. If it was a move that Laurent would never make in a million years, than it was also a move that his Uncle would never predict. At least that was Damianos’ argument.

It was almost laughable, the way Damianos wandered around with his trapped animal look about him. The man wore his heart and emotions on his sleeve; it was no wonder Kastor was able to get the upper hand on him.

But that was also the reason that Laurent allowed him to come along.

Yes, Laurent had needed to repay a debt to Damianos—the man had saved his life after all, and hadn’t run—but there was something so infuriatingly _sincere_ about the man. He had the look in his eyes that said that he actually wanted to help Laurent.

Who in their right mind would help the Prince, eventual King, of enemy territory instead of running home to reclaim your own crown?

Damianos was more foolish than Laurent had anticipated, but he was able and willing to fight with him. And he did know the terrain and had been leading armies for years now. While the Prince’s guard were the best, as a whole they lacked real battle experience. As did Laurent.

The only people who had any real battle training would be his Uncle’s men, though they hadn’t seen any real action in years. Not since they abandoned the starburst to serve the Regent.

Laurent clenched his fists because he didn’t know what to do. He knew that he had to find a way to uproot Govart and actually demand control and obedience from the men following him to the border, but he didn’t know _how_ to actually do that. He couldn’t just outright get rid of Govart because it would be seen as a slight against his Uncle, an act of childish rebellion, and his Uncle was waiting for any excuse possible to send an army after Laurent himself.

Not to mention with a rudderless leader, there was nothing Laurent could do to gain control of the men either. If their Captain wasn’t following the Prince’s orders, why would they?

“I’ll find a way,” Laurent said quietly. He stared up at the stone copy of his brother. He had come here to say goodbye but hadn’t been able to find the words, his mind so wrapped up in what he had yet to say.

_What would Auguste do?_ He wouldn’t have gotten himself into this mess, for starters. He would have been able to be King right away and their Uncle wouldn’t have needed to step in. He wouldn’t have _had_ to step in. Their Uncle would have never had that first taste of power that blinded him to anything but his ambition to have the throne—rightfully and exclusively.

Laurent let out a breath and forced his mind to slow. He had business to take care of, yes, but this was the most important.

“I suppose I am really leaving,” Laurent whispered. He knew that no one but himself ever came here, but there were still some things he didn’t want to say too loudly.

“I was finally boxed into a corner without escape,” Laurent said. “He’s changed you know. Of course you know. I’ve been talking about him for years.

“He’s already killed Adelaide,” Laurent said. “He knew how important she was to me. She was the horse that you helped me break. And he killed her in an attempt to kill me.

“Now he’s really got his chance,” Laurent said. “I’m scared that he’s actually going to do it. That he’s going to find a way to kill me that I can’t stop. What do I do then?”

Laurent let out a strange half-laugh. “I am brining along Damianos. He saved my life, didn’t run, and then begged me to let him come with and help protect me. He seems sure that he’ll be able to do it.

“The only certainty is what I can do to stop Uncle’s plans. Damianos has hope for a bright outcome, obviously expecting for a return to his own throne. Hope is a useless emotion,” Laurent said. “What’s the point in wasting any effort hoping for something that might never happen?”

Laurent let out a breath. “Am I making the right choice? He killed you. He could betray me. He could throw me over his shoulder and carry me off to Ios himself and treat me worse than I treated him. He could kill me in my sleep. He could be spying for Uncle. There’s so many ways this could go wrong.

“I know you’d be telling me to look at the ways this could go right. You’d have faith in him even after everything because that’s how you are. You’d tell me to have _hope_. Damianos might not kill me, or betray me, or report everything to Uncle. He could actually prove to be an asset that neither Uncle nor I expected. But I can’t count on that because I don’t trust him.”

Luarent frowned because that wasn’t quite true anymore. “I don’t _think_ I trust him.”

“Maybe that’s what’s scares me,” Laurent admitted after a moment. “The thought that my enemy, the man I swore I would kill one day, might just be the first person I could see myself trusting.

“Yes, I trust my men, but this is different. _He’s_ different. He’s a force to be reckoned with. He’s large, brutish, and an _Akielon_ whore. But he’s noble too. He hasn’t allowed this place to break him like it broke me, even though I tried to break him.

“This might just be a massive mistake, Auguste, and I’m not sure what to do if it is. What will I do if after everything he abandons me to my fate as well? What if he stays? I don’t know which one is worse.”

Laurent reached out and touched the calf of the stone image in front of where he was sitting. It was as cold and unyielding as the silence was at producing answers.

Auguste would tell him to trust his instincts. He’d tell Laurent that there wasn’t anyone who could read a situation better than Laurent. This court, his Uncle, all of it had made Laurent lose faith in himself, in his ability to read situations and people as what they were instead of what they might do.

The warped gift allowed him to stay alive and aware of what his Uncle was planning, but at the price of not being able to trust his own gut reactions any longer because it didn’t take into account any of the potential motivations behind every act.

His instincts told him to trust Damianos to keep his word to help him win back his throne. Laurent looked up at the stone copy of his brother’s face as a breeze brushed through the small opening of the windows. He knew that it was just the wind, but it felt like an agreement from Auguste.

_It’s okay to trust people._ _It’s okay to not want to do this all on your own._

That was really the crux of it, wasn’t it? That in the end, Laurent was just as terrified of being alone as he was when he was thirteen years old and watched his brother fall from the jab of Damianos’ sword. He was still just a terrified and lost little boy who was desperately searching for anyone to hold on to.

He’d only had one person. And that person was now trying to orchestrate his death.

Laurent was scared to face that alone.

Laurent just let himself breathe in the quiet for a few more minutes before getting up and staring at his brother again.

“Goodbye, Auguste,” Laurent said. “I hope I’ll see you again with good news. If not, then I hope you are waiting for me yet just as you always promised you would.”

Laurent walked out of the little alcove where Auguste’s statue was housed and made his way to the stables. He needed something to do to keep himself busy before they left since he hadn’t slept in two days. Honestly he probably hadn’t slept through the night, fully and without staying awake until his body collapsed in years.

He would get through this. He just had to stay focused and stop letting Damianos and his need to protect everyone distract him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. You are the best! 
> 
> You can find me here or at [saras-almanac](http://saras-almanac.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!


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